Black Bean and Tortilla Bake

spatchcock's Note:

Great quick and healthy dinner.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 1 garlic clove , minced
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• ½ cup chopped green onion
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans , rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper
• 12 soft corn tortillas
• 8 ounces low-fat cheddar cheese , shredded, reserve 2 tablespoons (I used fat free)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.
2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray.
3. Add garlic, onions, tomato, green onion, cumin, and chili powder.
4. Cook on medium heat until onion is tender.
5. Add tomato sauce and cook 5 minutes more.
6. Stir in beans, cilantro, salt and pepper.
7. Spray a 9 inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
8. Layer 4 tortillas, 1/3 cheese, and 1/3 of the bean mixture; repeat 2 more times.
9. Top with reserved 2 tablespoons of cheese.
10. Bake 20 minutes, covered, then 10 minutes uncovered or until bubbly.

Reviews

[Fuzzy's Finds]

A vegetarian winner and already on request for repeats! I did modify it quite a bit after reading some reviews, as follows:

-Can of tomatoes w/ juices substituted for the tomato sauce and chopped tomato (it's winter, tomatoes are nasty in the supermarket right now)
-2 cans of black beans used instead of one
-Splash of salsa added in the bean mixture, and another in the bottom of the pan before layering
-Onions and spices doubled to keep the proportions right b/c of the extra beans
-My 9x9 pan needed 3 tortillas per layer, not 4; so we only used 9.
-I baked uncovered for first 20 minutes, then stirred the top layer a bit with a spoon before adding the last bit of cheese and putting it back in the oven for the last 10 minutes. (Kept it from drying out on top without me having to fashion a foil cover.)

Doubling the beans filled the pan nicely and kept this from being skimpy. There's four of us, and we have leftovers for tomorrow despite everyone eating their fill.

We're serving a toddler, so we kept the spices as described, but heat lovers might think about adding a can of green chilis or some serious salsa/pepper sauce to up the ante a bit. It's good as is, though! Thanks for sharing, spatchcock!

[913kimberly]

Very good! I added 1 cup of salsa to the mix and 1/2 tsp more chili powder, 1 tsp more cumin. I also used fat free cheddar cheese to lower the calorie and fat count. Before I started layering in the baking dish I spread a little salsa to moisten it up. It turned out great...serve with a salad and a little fat free sour cream. Yummo!

[Milla]

this recipe is pretty amazing. it's become a staple in my household. i use cuban black beans (which have spices added) and that really made this flavorful. it's quite filling and yummy, and probably does serve closer to 4 people. awesome recipe all the way.